5 Spreadsheets to Set Up When You Start Your Blog

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So you want to start a blogging business, or maybe even turn your current hobby blog into a full-time income? First you’ll need to get organized.  Even if you’re not Type A, there are a few key spreadsheets that will make your blogging life easier and there’s no better time than now to set them up.

Having systems in place for record keeping helps me to be more efficient in my work, both running my own blog and helping others as a virtual assistant. I think the key to spreadsheets is to keep them simple and manageable.

I’ve been publishing on this blog since June 2014 and I’m so l glad I took the time to set up these key spreadsheets from the start. Now I can easily see my blog’s growth, access specific posts to share quickly, and keep track of other key information I need for affiliate programs all in my Google Drive.

5 Must-Have Spreadsheets I Set Up Right Away

• Social Media Growth
• Income/Expenses
• Master Spreadsheet (set up using IFTTT)
• Affiliates
• Editorial Calendar (I learned from the Blog Clarity Course, Content Brew.)

Bonus Spreadsheet: Passwords to all of your social media accounts so you have them handy.
I like to share, so if you click on any of the spreadsheets above you can view my example in Google Drive. All of them are very simple and straight forward to use- and some include formulas to add up the columns automatically.

Why Should You Set Up a Master Spreadsheet From Day 1

When it comes to business, and life really, I always get better results from using a proactive approach, rather than a reactive approach. I think it’s really important set your self up for success from Day 1. Plus, it’s much easier to stay organized and have all the information you need at your fingertips, than to retroactively try to record things you could have automated from the beginning.

I’ve heard from many bloggers who, after a few years of posts, decide that a Master Spreadsheet of all of their posts would be really helpful to organizing their business and executing specific social media marketing strategies. At that point, they have hundreds of posts and the time investment to play catch up is relatively large.

If you have the Yoast Plugin you can also export an XML sitemap and copy it over to a spreadsheet, then reformat it the way you prefer.  I have found that if you update posts regularly, the dates on the sitemap are from when you last updated the post, rather than when it was originally published. I’d much rather have a spreadsheet created as I go.


Ways to Use a Master Spreadsheet

There are so many ways to use a Master Spreadsheet of all your blog posts. Here are a few:
• Easily see when each post has been pinned last and to which boards.
• Keep track of where and when you’ve shared each post on Facebook Share Days or Linky Parties.
• Make notes for yourself (or a VA) about what needs to be updated on each post.
• Keep track of which posts contain affiliate links, and thus have the potential to earn you income.
• Record keyword rich descriptions, Facebook posts, and tweets that you might use to promote each post and then bulk upload them to a scheduling tool, like Hootsuite Pro.
• Have the links to all of your posts readily available for sharing.

So now you know why you need a Master Spreadsheet, but how do you go about setting it up?
Click here to read more about how I set up my Master Spreadsheet Using IFTTT.

If you’re  reading this and you’re not a newbie, it’s ok! You can still set up your Master Spreadsheet to start recording your blog post links going forward.

Do you have another type of spreadsheet set up for your business that I missed? I’d love to hear from you on Facebook or Twitter.